Bashing Mumbai Police for hotel raid is senseless behaviour…They were simply acting on a tip-off!

We are always so damn quick to criticize the police authorities, but without resenting our unreasonable appraisal, they carry on about their job. Don’t be fooled, though. There is always a sense of injustice buried in their heart…

There are corrupt elements in every sphere of life, but generalizing an entire community as shady and dishonest would be an irrational charge. It is also an insult to a force that keeps us and our families safe.

The Mumbai Police recently bore the brunt of an overzealous civil society that pronounced the entire force autocratic and unfriendly. The Mumbaikars should have exercised caution and restraint, and applied their mind, before passing insensitive judgment.

It is as bad in Delhi, where our very own chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, addressed policemen as “Thulla”, a derogatory term, in a television interview some time back. It was unbecoming of a chief minister to have publicly embarrassed the capital’s police force.

Although the Mumbai Police acted according to protocol, they still apologised to the 13 couples arrested for supposed impropriety. In the end, when it was found out that the couples were genuine, with one even engaged to marry, they offered an unconditional apology.

But any and every police force in the world would have acted the way Mumbai Police did.

They received a tip from its sources that prostitution could be taking place in the Madh Island hotel. The intention behind the raid was to expose the sex-racket they were informed about. The locals in the area have for long complained about immoral activities taking place in the hotel.

In fact, not all couples came out of the rooms. Quite a few were caught in indecent positions at various sea-facing points in the hotel. Senior police officers have confirmed that three men fled the scene from outside Mantara Residency, one of the hotels that was raided, while three women were arrested and charged for prostitution.

Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Deven Bharti has said that the entire operation got “messed up”. But despite public admittance of lapse, we continue to point fingers at them. Aren’t we a thinking society?

The previous month, Mumbai police raided a famous spa and found a hidden lift which went underground, opening to six rooms where indecent acts took place. We didn’t make hue and cry about it then because Mumbai police’s actions busted a sex-racket. This time around, their intentions were pious, but the manner in which it all panned out has left a bad taste. They could have been more aware of public sentiments.

Sex joints have mushroomed all over the city. The Mumbai police is naturally sensitive to any information or tip it receives. Instead of bashing them, we could have simply asked them to exercise better judgment next time.